Snowdrop carpet photographed by my friend, Gill Henwood
Lakeland carpet thoughts :
Seven years on… the old snowdrops have drifted for a hundred years or more. Now cleared of overgrowth (though brambles will keep growing due to the seeds in the ground), they are a dancing carpet – here in the gentle February rain.
The sticks mark an edge so we don’t tread on the shoots…
In the dell meadow beyond, we’ve planted a black walnut tree and a hornbeam, both native. The grass is full of old wood anemones running through it (creeping a little further each year, now they have some light).
Joy in wet mid February!
Gill.
February tiptoes across a winter landscape, dressed in white array, luring us away from cold depression of dark, dank January, with dazzling brightness; promising the hope of Spring beyond.
Ah! What trembling beauty lays a carpet of expectant joy!
Valentine’s Day dawn over Hawkshead Church. Photograph by Gill Henwood.
Today we celebrate St Valentine who was martyred in Rome about the year 269AD. At that time there was a persecution of Christians under the reign of the Emperor Claudius. Valentine’s association with expressions of love to those special to you isn’t really known. In Medieval times it was thought that on this day birds began to mate but there are other ideas.
Today it is associated with the sending of cards to someone you would like to express your love to. However, as there is a custom that this is sent anonymously, it rather defeats the object! It is also one of those festivals when purveyors of love signs – flowers, chocolates, cards etc – encourage us to express our love in some tangible way. Obligingly those who supply these needs increase the cost of purchase, just to prove that you really mean it!
The One who truly expresses His deep love for us is God, though as ever, he pays the price Himself. God is busily renewing our world at this time and all around us are signs of His love in the joy of creation beginning to show itself in the bursting forth of new life. Valentine’s day can therefore be a day when we give thanks to God for creating us, loving us and sustaining us.
There is much that is dark in our world right now so it is good to be able to pause from our anxiety, pain and despair to look also at what is hopeful and what sustains us in the depth of our souls. The Valentine’s day message from God is that we are to love one another as He loves us. That is what Jesus tells us and it is when we put that into practice we have already turned the world into a lighter and brighter and more loving place.
Meanwhile, thanks to my friend Gill Henwood, God has sent us a Valentine’s card full of beauty and vision. Look around you. God really does want you to be filled with His joy and love. Give Him thanks.
Here’s another reminder of the beauty of Creation, and below it, a suggested text for your Valentine’s Card to God. (Don’t forget to sign it – Amen!)
[Mr G]
Creator God, We acknowledge that as your handiwork, we stand alongside all that you have made. Trees and rivers, mountains and valleys, soaring birds and scuttling creatures, all are held within your care. May we grow in our love and appreciation for the fabulous variety around us; and may our awe and wonder draw us closer to the natural world, and through it to you, the God of all things. We pray in Jesus name, Amen
Prayer by Revd Cate Williams, Mission and Evangelism Officer Diocese of Gloucester
This photo of Tarn Hows on a misty morning, was taken by my friend, Gill Henwood. She gave it the title ‘Through a glass darkly,’ which is a quotation from verse 12 of what is probably St. Paul’s most well known writing – 1 Corinthians Chapter 13.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. (that is the King James Version. The more recent NRSV has, see in a mirror, dimly, which, to my mind is poetically is weaker.)
As I contemplated the feast day of the ‘Conversion of St. Paul,’ I found the title Gill chose, and the fascinating and rather evocative scene, kept coming back to me. I wrote this poem and tried the let the photo speak to the event I am trying to address.
It is a very amazing photo and it deserves to highlight a very amazing event.
The Conversion of Saint Paul
Brooding mist blurs edges of perception. Colours muted. A whisper of wind kisses the water, rippling on the shore of the soul. Visibility impaired, a cloak of quietness drawn across the mind. Stilling all movement. Intentions passionately held, melt into deep darkness. Yet this is not the cause of fearfulness nor of despair. Out of the shadows, of seeing “through a glass darkly” there is a pinprick of growing light which slowly, perceptively, burns away the haze as new vision takes shape.
A Voice, crisp, gently directive, unfettered by illusion, beckons, touching eyes to see a wonder, “face to face.” The waypath is irrevocably changed.
Black Beck. Lake District. A winter reflection by Gill Henwood.
A pair of Dippers are patrolling the Beck, calling as they fly individually up and down their territory. One was in the water, dipping under the surface seeking grubs. On a frosty morning the water was above freezing, still providing a late breakfast.
The low sun had warmed the mist which formed from the Beck and Esthwaite Water, clouding over the frozen earth, until light broke through.
Light and warmth, water and ice cold frost, elements of God’s glorious winterscapes.
The birds are increasing their activity but still have to shelter through the storms and survive the harsh times. The sun’s warmth promises new life, heralds the coming of Spring.
It’s only a fortnight to St Brigid’s Day! and the snowdrops are readying to open their scented upturned-lily bells.
Endure, await, take heart – the Light of the World is shining through the mists and storms…
Mr G's Ponderings 